


'Cause I Can't Really Guess What You Want

by evol_love



Series: What's It Gonna Be? [2]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Misunderstandings, Origin Story, Pining, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:07:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27097039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evol_love/pseuds/evol_love
Summary: Luke is trying to solve a lot of problems: his band needs a new guitarist, Alex is bummed out, and something is just missing. When he runs into Bobby, he thinks he's maybe found the solution to everything.Or: Luke attempts to play matchmaker with Sunset Curve's newest member, and it works out shockingly well. Just maybe not the way he expected it to.A prequel to "Don't Wanna Let You Love Somebody Else But Me"
Relationships: Alex & Luke Patterson & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex & Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby | Trevor Wilson/Luke Patterson
Series: What's It Gonna Be? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977793
Comments: 25
Kudos: 92





	'Cause I Can't Really Guess What You Want

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is the prequel to my fic "Don't Wanna Let You Love Somebody Else But Me." You can absolutely read this without having read that, but I think you'll get a lot more out of it with the other! 
> 
> Straight up this fic would not exist at all without my girlfriend Anna @phonecallfromgod, who had so many brilliant ideas and character insights, and who talked about these wonderful boys with me endlessly while I started plotting this. I never expected to write a standalone Luke/Bobby fic when I started DWLYLSEBM, but now I kinda can't imagine one without the other. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Title from "What's It Gonna Be?" by Shura

_“Back in the early days of Sunset Curve, when we were just kind of getting started, I was, like...I had...something. With a guy.”_

\-----

Luke likes to think that being best friends with Alex has made him a better person. 

Like, he believes down to his core that life is all about surrounding yourself with people that get you and making yourselves better people together, but his friendship with Alex is on a whole other level after Alex tells him and Reggie that he’s gay. Luke has literally _never_ had someone trust him like that, and it feels like he spends every day now making sure he lives up to the person Alex thinks he is. He _wants_ to be someone people can trust like that. He wants people to feel safe with him, to know that he’ll still love them and want to create with them no matter what. 

The problem is that Luke isn’t actually great with the whole feelings thing. 

Seeing people get emotional usually just stresses Luke out, because he wants to be able to fix it and has no idea how. Alex is amazing at it. He’s seen how gentle Alex is with people, how good he is at just listening, at just being there. Luke can’t wrap his head around it at all. If he sees someone in distress, he needs to be able to do something about it, or he’ll go crazy and then he’s no help to anyone. 

So when he gets it into his head that Alex might be lonely, his first reaction is to act, not to try and talk about it. Alex wouldn’t want him to talk about it with him anyway; for all that he’d been forthcoming about being gay, he’s super weird and quiet about anything to do with his actual love life. Luke’s never heard him even mention a guy he might be interested in. And Luke knows that’s probably partly because Alex is pretty much the only gay guy any of them knows, but still. It’s not fair. It pisses Luke off that Alex doesn’t get to do the same dumb things he and Reggie do, like talk about girls in their classes, flirt with someone just because they can. Alex deserves to have someone to flirt with too. 

Bobby sort of just falls into place by total chance. 

They’ve been looking for a new guitarist since Eric’s mom made him quit the band and focus on school, and Luke’s hanging up flyers telling people how to contact them to audition when he hears a commotion down the hall. By the time he looks up, whoever had been causing problems is gone, and a guy Luke’s pretty sure he’s seen around once or twice is gathering up his stuff off the ground. Luke frowns. He’s down the hall before he even realizes he’s decided to go help.

“Hey,” he says, bending down to help the guy pick up a few papers that had been scattered around. “You okay?”

The guy looks confused by Luke’s question. He doesn’t answer. 

“What was that all about?” Luke tries again. The guy rolls his eyes. 

“Don’t worry about it. Nothing new,” he says, shoving the papers Luke had handed back to him into his bag. “Thanks, by the way.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Luke echoes, giving him a smile. He reaches out and adds, “I’m Luke.” 

“Bobby,” the guy replies, shaking his hand. He’s looking at Luke like he’s a little weird, but he also looks like he’s fighting a smile. He glances down, then looks back at Luke, suddenly far more alert. “You looking for a guitarist?” Looking down himself, Luke realizes he’s still holding a stack of flyers. 

“Yeah, you play?” Bobby nods. He’s brightened up significantly already. It feels good. “Well hey, I was just going back to my buddy Reggie’s place to jam for a bit. Wanna come?” 

“Uh, yeah, totally,” he says. “My guitar’s back at my house though.”

“I feel like I can trust you with mine for today,” Luke says with a shrug, like that isn’t a huge deal for him. Bobby must get that, because his eyes go wide. “I’ve got a good feeling about you, Bobby.”

\-----

Reggie’s place is far from an ideal rehearsal space. It’s cramped, and his parents are always screaming at them to turn down the volume, like that’s how it works. Still, it’s better than Luke’s house, where they’d be outright banned, or Alex’s, where Alex spends as little time as he possibly can. Luke leads Bobby around the house, which earns him a baffled look, and then knocks on Reggie’s bedroom window. It flies open a second later. 

“Hey!” Reggie says cheerfully. He steps back, still holding the window open. Luke turns and gestures for Bobby to go ahead. 

“After you.” Bobby just stares back at him. 

“Seriously? Is this a joke?” he asks. 

“Nope. This is the best way to get us all in the house without Reggie’s folks noticing. Usually we can get away with about half an hour before they come in and tell us to quiet down.”

“It’s true,” Reggie agrees, nodding. “Also, who are you?” 

“Oh, I’m Bobby,” he says awkwardly, reaching through the window to shake Reggie’s hand. 

“Bobby plays guitar,” Luke tells him happily. Deciding to show Bobby how it’s done, he moves toward the window himself and climbs in, turning around once he’s inside and offering Bobby a hand to help him in. Bobby takes it, holding onto Luke to boost himself up before tumbling into Reggie’s room. 

“You guys always practice here?” he asks, getting up and brushing himself off. 

“Yeah, pretty much.” Bobby hums thoughtfully, looking around. 

“What do you play?” he asks Reggie after a moment. He sounds genuinely interested. 

“Bass,” Reggie tells him. “Alex is our drummer. Luke sings.” Bobby turns back to Luke, raising an eyebrow. 

“Oh really?” Luke flushes. 

“Yep. That’s Sunset Curve.” Luke goes to Reggie’s closet and rummages around at the back before pulling out his guitar from where they’d hidden it after their last practice. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Bobby takes his guitar readily. He looks comfortable with it, and Luke’s pleased to see he seems to respect the instrument too. They have him play something for them, and then he and Reggie show him one of Sunset Curve’s songs. He’s good, and he picks up Luke’s music like it’s no problem. Reggie looks as happy to have found Bobby as Luke feels. 

“Good stuff, man,” Luke says when they’re done. “I’m so glad I bumped into you.”

“Is that what happened?” Bobby says lightly. He carefully pulls the guitar strap back over his head and hands it back to Luke. “I really like the song. Did you write it?” he asks Luke.

“Uh, yeah,” he says, not understanding why he feels so sheepish admitting that. He loves showing off his music. That’s his thing. But it’s like it’s suddenly extremely important that Bobby is impressed with it, with everything about the band. Luke feels almost like he’s auditioning for Bobby, not the other way around. 

“Where’s your drummer?” he asks. Luke and Reggie exchange a look. 

“He’s kinda going through some stuff with his folks right now,” Luke says carefully. “They haven’t been super cool lately.”

“They don’t like that he’s in a band or something?” Bobby asks, which hits a little too close to home. 

“Or something,” Reggie answers. Luke’s about to give him a Look, because yeah, Bobby seems really cool and he’s a great guitar player, but they only just met him and they can’t just go telling him Alex’s business when Alex isn’t even here, but then he sees the look on Bobby’s face. And he can’t explain it at all, but something in Bobby’s eyes just seems to _get_ it, and as Luke thinks over the circumstances of them meeting, he thinks he might get it too. 

“We’re a really chill group,” he tells Bobby, desperately hoping he’s communicating what he wants to say and not just coming off like a total weirdo. “We’ve all got stuff going on, but we don’t care about that here. All that matters is that you can play.”

Bobby gives him the first real, full smile Luke’s seen on him. 

“Cool,” is all he says, but Luke can hear everything under it. 

That’s when it hits him: he can kill so many birds with this one stone. Or, okay, Luke doesn’t love the idea of killing birds, maybe he can feed a lot of birds with this corn, or whatever birds eat. Whatever. This isn’t about birds, it’s about Bobby. Bobby appears to have solved their guitarist problem, and Luke thinks, if he’s right about him, he might be the solution to the problem with Alex too. 

\-----

The first step in his mission to make Alex happier and possibly get him a boyfriend is to figure out if Bobby is actually even gay in the first place. 

It makes sense that this is a very difficult first step—it had taken years of friendship with Alex before he’d ever said anything. But Luke doesn’t have years here. 

“I know we just met, but I really feel like you fit in here with us,” he’d told Bobby when he took him home from Reggie’s. 

“Hey, come sit with me and Reggie,” he’d said the next day at school. “Alex has a different lunch, or he would totally be sitting with us too.”

“Elton John is really cool, right?” he’d said a few days after that. That one mostly earned him a puzzled look from Bobby, but he’d eventually nodded in agreement.

He thinks he’s doing a pretty good job honestly, walking a fine line between dropping hints and going too far and making Bobby uncomfortable. Still, Bobby isn’t saying anything to him. He’s not giving Luke anything to work with. 

So he defaults to step two at band practice that Friday, and finally introduces Bobby and Alex. 

“Hey man, good to meet you,” Alex says pleasantly when Luke and Bobby walk into Reggie’s house (through the front door this time—Reggie’s parents have date night on Fridays, which means they have until ten before they’re home and yelling more than usual). He and Bobby shake hands, say hi, and that’s that. It’s not exactly the sparks-flying, love-at-first-sight encounter Luke had hoped for, but he can make it work. They probably just have to get to know each other before they really connect. And Luke knows that if Alex just opens up and gives Bobby a chance, there’s so much to like there. He’s been hanging out with him pretty much all week since he realized Bobby doesn’t really _have_ other friends at school, and they get along so well. Bobby’s a lot more serious than Reggie, a lot more reserved than Alex, but he’s fun to hang out with, and he really gets music like no one Luke’s ever met before. When the two of them play together, it’s something special. 

They’re only about five minutes into practice, which mostly means Alex is messing around with his drumsticks and Reggie is playing some Garth Brooks song while Luke gets his music together, when Bobby speaks up again. 

“Um, I don’t wanna be presumptuous here, but if we need a better rehearsal space, my parents let me use our garage to play.”

Luke blinks at him in surprise. 

“Dude!” he says, leaning forward and grabbing Bobby’s shoulder. He’s so close suddenly, his face just inches away from Luke’s, and it’s disorienting. “That would be amazing. Alex could actually set up his whole drum kit properly.”

“That would be nice,” Alex agrees, looking sadly at his cramped set up. 

“And I wouldn’t have to help pull you guys through my window anymore,” Reggie adds. 

“When could we move in?” Luke asks. 

“I mean...if Reggie’s folks are gonna be out all night, we could move the stuff over now.”

“Seriously? That would be so awesome,” Luke says, beaming. He ruffles Bobby’s hair happily, and Bobby scrunches up his face at the contact, but he doesn’t pull away. It’s progress. 

The guys seem to be in agreement, looking more thrilled than they’ve been at any band practice Luke can remember, and they quickly work out how to transport three guitars and a drumset across town. 

“Oh, hey, Alex, why don’t you drive with Bobby and lead the way, and I’ll follow you guys with Reggie?” Luke suggests. Alex looks confused, but he shrugs and goes with it. Success. 

“Okay,” Bobby says. He looks a little disappointed, but Luke figures that’s just because Bobby has a hard time around new people, and he knows Luke already. “See you there.” He climbs in with Alex, and Luke feels extremely pleased with himself when he gets into his own car. 

“What was that all about?” Reggie asks as he slams the door shut on the passenger side. 

Luke hesitates; Reggie’s not always the best with secrets, and he’s also not sure how much he should be telling anyone else about Alex and Bobby’s private business. But, he reasons, Bobby hasn’t ever _actually_ told him anything, so it’s not like it’s a betrayal. 

“I’m kinda trying to set up Alex and Bobby,” he admits. “I have a pretty good feeling about it.” Reggie raises his eyebrows. 

“Really? I didn’t really see anything going on with them.”

“They just met,” Luke says defensively. “And you know how Alex is. And Bobby’s even worse, he hasn’t really said anything, I just kind of _feel_ it, you know?”

Reggie’s giving him a look like he _doesn’t_ know, but he lets it pass without further argument, and Luke’s willing to take that one as a win too. If Reggie is also onboard (or at least not trying to stop him), that means the band isn’t going to get messed up by Alex and Bobby pairing off, and there’s no surprises for anyone. The plan is looking better and better every day. 

\-----

Bobby’s garage is an absolutely _perfect_ studio. There’s plenty of space for the four of them and their instruments, and there’s no parents too close to nag them about homework or getting “real jobs” or any of the other crap they’ve endured at their other houses. Bobby’s parents seem pretty nice, honestly. His mom even hugs Luke when she meets them while they’re unloading the instruments, telling them how excited she is to meet Bobby’s friends and how she can’t wait to hear them play. She doesn’t say anything if he maybe hangs on a moment longer than he needs to. 

“Dude, this is incredible, how did you not already start your own band with a place like this?” he asks in wonder as he looks around their newfound rehearsal space. Bobby’s smiling at him, a real, honest smile, and it’s all making Luke feel like the luckiest person in the world. He wonders if Bobby will smile like that when he and Alex start dating. He hopes so. He wants that for him. 

It’s their best practice in ages. No interruptions, no inconvenient room layout making things difficult. They can just live the music there, playing from their hearts without having to keep an eye on the clock, an ear to the door. Luke could cry, he’s so happy. 

“Thank you so much for letting us rehearse here,” Alex says when they finish playing. He’s still sitting behind the drums, looking happy and at ease for the first time in awhile. “This is a dream, seriously.”

“Hey, I’m just happy I could help you guys out,” Bobby says, flushed and looking down sheepishly. Luke shoots Reggie a look, waggling his eyebrows and gesturing toward Alex and Bobby with his head. Reggie still looks dubious. He’ll come around. When Luke turns back to the others, Bobby is looking at him, and he sucks in a breath in surprise. Had Bobby seen him trying to communicate with Reggie? Has he caught on to Luke’s plans? Maybe that would be a good thing; Bobby doesn’t seem good with Luke’s subtle hints, so maybe a more direct approach is best. 

“Alex, dude, you sounded amazing tonight,” Luke says. He’s laying it on thick, but it’s totally the truth. Alex is an awesome drummer and he never gives himself enough credit. It doesn’t hurt to compliment him often. He deserves it. “This new space is making you come alive.”

“It feels really good to actually be able to lay these out properly,” he agrees, looking over his drum set fondly. “We can leave these set up in here?”

“Totally,” Bobby says, nodding. “My parents pretty much only use this for storage, so it’s not a problem.”

“I think finding you for the band was meant to be,” Luke tells him sincerely. Bobby’s answering smile is kind. “This is so much better than anything we’ve had to work with for a long time.”

“I’m glad,” Bobby tells him. He’s still looking at Luke, only at Luke, and it makes him feel warm. The pride of a successful new friendship. 

They all decide to go out for pizza to celebrate their new studio after practice is over. Alex and Bobby are talking more now, so Luke decides forcing them together in the car was a win. It feels a little hollow, though, and he realizes he’s going to miss how much time he and Bobby have been spending together when Bobby starts spending that time with Alex instead. It’s a selfish thought, though, and Luke shakes it off quickly. Alex deserves someone who makes him happy, who does nice things for them all just because he can. Because he cares about them. Besides, he and Bobby already have plans together tomorrow, so Luke’s not gonna sweat it too much. They were both his friends first. He’s not going to lose them when they get together. 

\-----

There’s some new horror movie Bobby wants to see playing at the theater. Horror has never been Luke’s favorite genre, but Bobby had been so lit up about it at lunch the other day that Luke had agreed to go with him without a second thought. Bobby had promised him it wouldn’t be too scary, anyway. 

It’s a Saturday night, but even though the movie theater itself is packed, their theater is pretty empty. There’s a handful of people, mostly couples, scattered around, but Luke and Bobby pretty much have their section to themselves. 

“This is fun,” Luke says as they settle in. “I go to the movies with the guys all the time, but I never really go with someone one-on-one like this.”

“Yeah?” Bobby asks. “I’ve never really...gone to the movies like this, either.” He swallows, then adds, “Y’know, with someone I care about.” 

This is it, Luke thinks. Bobby finally trusts him enough to open up to him. He’s totally going to tell Luke he’s gay tonight, maybe even that he likes Alex, which would be a massive win this early on. And it makes sense, because Alex is a total catch, and Bobby’s lucky he has Luke to steer him in the direction of a guy who’ll be so good for him. They both deserve the best, because they are the best. 

The previews are playing, but Luke is thinking about what kind of boyfriend Bobby will be for Alex. He’s quiet for sure, but Bobby notices things. He’s helpful, and he’s thoughtful, and he cares about things. He cares about people. He cares about Luke; they’ve only known each other for a short time, but Luke feels like they’ve been close for ages. And that’s what Alex deserves, after all the shit he’s been through, after his parents trying to act like they’re just “concerned” for him and don’t want him to be alone for the rest of his life. This will prove them wrong beyond any doubt. Luke never feels less alone than when he and Bobby are together. 

It turns out the movie is super scary. He and Bobby have very different definitions of what’s interesting and what’s terrifying. 

It’s okay though. Once he realizes that he’s going to get super freaked out if he pays too much attention to the movie, he decides to just pay attention to Bobby instead. Bobby watches movies in a very different way from Luke and Alex and Reggie. He knows things about film—he’s kind of pretentious, honestly, but it’s charming from him—and he’s interested in the way movies are put together, in the art of them, not just what’s happening in the story. When he starts focusing on the way Bobby’s enjoying the movie instead of how completely spooked he is, he has a way better time. 

“You okay?” Bobby asks when he notices Luke is looking at him and not at the screen. 

“Mmhmm,” Luke says, because he’s not about to look like a wuss in front of him. Bobby’s mouth twists into a little grin that says he’s not buying it for a second; he knows Luke too well. 

“You’re scared,” he says softly. Luke groans, and Bobby laughs. “It’s okay, I’m not gonna make fun of you.” He leans in so he and Luke are sitting closer together. Luke wonders if Bobby can hear how hard his heart is pounding, because of the movie. “Would it help if I tell you stuff about how they made it, so it feels less real?” Luke nods, grateful. “Okay, well, for starters, that blood is all corn syrup, and the stories about the actors having to scrub all of that off themselves are enough to make it not scary at all.”

“Really?” Luke asks, laughing a little. 

“Yep. Hitchcock used chocolate syrup in _Psycho._ ” Luke snorts. 

“Okay, this is helping,” he says, nodding. He manages to watch the movie in silence for a few more minutes without getting completely scared, until something pops up onscreen and makes him jump. He leans in closer to Bobby on instinct, hiding his face in his shoulder. Bobby huffs a laugh again, but he leans closer too. 

In the end, he survives the movie with a combination of Bobby’s help and the promise that they can get food after. Bobby buys him a milkshake as a sort of combination apology/thank you to him for sitting through a horror movie for him. He doesn’t even say anything when Luke orders meat on his half of their shared pizza, just sighs before ordering his usual pepper and onion and tomato monstrosity. 

“Tell me you at least had a _little_ fun,” Bobby says once they’ve claimed their table and set down their food. 

“Oh, I totally had fun. I’m just saying I get to pick the movie next time.”

“Next time?” Bobby asks. Luke doesn’t know what the expression on Bobby’s face means. It’s kind of...hopeful? Happy? Which Luke gets, because by all accounts, Bobby doesn’t make friends easily. It must be exciting to finally have someone he can spend his time with. Even with a few best friends already, Luke feels the same way.

“Totally. I’ve gotta get you back and make you go see something you’d never see on your own.” Bobby grins. 

“You’re on.”

They work their way through the pizza quickly, but Luke isn’t quite ready to go their separate ways just yet. 

“Come walk with me on the beach,” he tells Bobby, reaching out and squeezing his arm. He expects a protest—Bobby has not kept it a secret how much the beach annoys him—but Bobby just nods.

“Okay,” he agrees. “Lead the way.”

It’s dark enough that the beach is mostly clear. There’s a group having a bonfire further down the way, and a couple is totally making out under a tree back the other way, but otherwise, they have the place to themselves. Just them and the ocean. 

“This is really pretty,” Bobby admits, watching the waves crash to shore. “I’m not really a huge fan of the beach when it’s crowded during the day, but it’s kind of nice right now.” He turns and smiles softly at Luke. 

“One day we’ll get you out on the beach when there’s people around,” Luke laughs. “We’ll play out here, and you’ll see everyone _loving_ it, and you’ll love it too.”

“Maybe,” Bobby says, grinning and looking back at the beach around them. “I have a hard time doubting anything you say, at this point.” That hits something in Luke’s heart. He doesn’t even know what to make of this feeling. “I’m, uh. I’m really glad you found me, Luke.”

“I am too,” Luke says. “Everything with Sunset Curve got better when you came in.”

“I mean, playing the guitar on my own was nice, but, this band, and your music...it’s _really_ good,” he tells Luke earnestly. “And the guys are great, and spending time with you is really great, you and I...I really think we could have something.”

“Yeah, me too,” Luke says, beaming at him. “It’s like when we’re playing, we really _connect_ , and people will see that, and they’ll get it. This is gonna be big.” Bobby chuckles, shaking his head. “What?”

“Nothing, I just. I wasn’t talking about the band,” Bobby says. Immediately, Luke is on the defensive, so the actual meaning of his words only begins to dawn on him when Bobby leans forward and kisses him.

“I,” Luke says lamely when Bobby steps back. “Alex. You’re supposed to like Alex.”

“I am?” Bobby asks. He’s still looking at Luke, looking at Luke like he wants to kiss him again, and Luke is pretty sure that was the plan, that Bobby and Alex were going to get together, but right now, he can’t remember why he wanted that. 

“Well, he’s gay,” Luke points out. 

“Oh. I kind of just assumed you all were,” Bobby says. Luke feels more offended on Reggie’s behalf than on his own, and he doesn’t know what that means, or maybe he does and he just doesn’t want to think about it. Either way, he doesn’t resist when Bobby moves closer again. He’s so close their noses brush together, and he asks quietly, “Is this okay?” Luke nods without even hesitating. When they kiss again, Luke’s ready for it. He brings a hand up to cup Bobby’s jaw, kisses him back this time. 

“Wait,” he says suddenly, and Bobby pulls away quickly. Luke frowns, because he didn’t mean for that to happen. He wants Bobby to stay close, to keep kissing him. He’ll deal with that in a second. “Was this a date?”

“Uh, I kind of wanted it to be,” Bobby admits sheepishly. 

“So,” Luke starts, because he’s still trying to wrap his head around how he read this all so, so wrong. “You...like me?”

“Kind of,” Bobby says again. He won’t even look at Luke, and Luke hates that. 

“Okay.” He brings his hand back up to Bobby’s face and says, “In that case, I want to kiss you again.” Bobby doesn’t waste any time after that, and Luke completely loses track of how long they stand there alone on the beach, just knows that they kiss for a long, long time. 

“I really thought you knew I was into you,” Bobby laughs later. They’re sitting on the sand together, looking up at the moon. “You kept saying things like you were trying to tell me you were gay without really telling me.” Luke groans, leaning forward and hiding his face in his knees. 

“Yeah, that makes sense now that I’m looking back on it,” he admits. Bobby rubs his back, reassuring. 

“Anyway. It doesn’t matter now, right?” he says. Luke sits back up to look at him. 

“No, I guess not.” Luke pauses, thinks. “Wait, how long were you into me before today?” Now it’s Bobby’s turn to look embarrassed. 

“Uh. Remember when you helped me pick up my stuff after those guys at school knocked it out of my hands?”

“Is that what happened?” Luke asks, frowning. Then his brain catches up. “So like. Since we met, basically.” It kind of blows his mind. 

“What was I supposed to do? No one at school wants anything to do with me, and then the cutest guy I’ve ever seen comes over and is all nice to me and wants me to be in his band?”

“You think I’m cute?” Luke beams. Bobby gives him an unimpressed look, but Luke knows better than that by now, and he can tell Bobby’s smiling on the inside. 

“Yes, Luke, I think we’ve established that.”

“Wow.” He basks in that a moment. It’s hard to even process everything that’s happened that night, but he’s trying to just roll with it, go with what feels right. “Oh, I think you’re cute too, for the record.” And it’s true. Luke has no clue how he hadn’t realized any of this sooner. 

“Good,” Bobby says. He leans in and kisses Luke one more time before standing up and brushing the sand off his jeans. “I hate to say it, but I should get home, or my mom will freak.” Luke won’t admit it, but he’s thinking the same about his own parents. It goes without saying that he’s definitely not going to be telling them who he was out with, or what they were doing. Like he needs another thing to upset them with.

“Can I see you tomorrow, maybe?” Luke asks. 

“Any time,” Bobby answers. 

(They get slightly distracted when Luke gets to Bobby’s house and end up making out in the car for awhile before Bobby finally _insists_ that he has to go home, and Luke lets him go after kissing him one more time. Bobby laughs, and everything feels right when Luke pulls away. It’s the happiest he’s felt driving home in quite some time.) 

\-----

He sees Reggie and Alex chilling at Alex’s locker Monday morning, and he walks toward them with great purpose. Once they see him coming, though, he falters. He and Bobby hadn’t really talked about if they were going to tell the guys about what happened between them. And it’s not just his secret to tell. 

“Hey man,” Alex greets him, slamming his locker shut. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” Luke says, which is true. “Hey, so we never really got to talk about it after practice, but what did you think of Bobby? Now that you’ve met him and heard him play and stuff.” He feels nervous, suddenly. Alex’s answer to this question really matters to him, he realizes. 

“He seems cool,” Alex says, nodding. “I think he plays great, and that studio is _awesome_.”

“Yeah, we seriously lucked out with him,” Reggie agrees. 

“Hey, I’ll catch you guys later, I have to make up this stupid quiz before class,” Alex tells them, readjusting his backpack and heading off down the hall, turning back and waving at them as he goes. 

“That definitely wasn’t an ideal answer,” Reggie tells Luke conspiratorially. Luke frowns. 

“I thought it was good. It seems like Bobby’s gonna work out for everyone. In the band, I mean.”

“But I thought...” Reggie moves closer to Luke, lowers his voice to say, “Weren’t you trying to set up Bobby and Alex?”

Oh. Right. 

“You know what?” Luke says, replaying the events of the weekend in his head for the hundredth time and feeling butterflies all over again. The way Bobby’s hand felt in his when they walked back to the car, the look on his face in the split second after they stop kissing. They’d spent the entire day together on Sunday, too, and the guys honestly hadn’t crossed his mind once. The idea of Alex and Bobby together in any capacity is suddenly impossible; Luke would rather have him all to himself. “I’ve thought about it, and I think I was way off with that one.” 

Reggie looks confused by Luke’s change of heart, but he takes it in stride. 

“Well, how was the rest of your weekend?” he asks instead. And of course, that’s when he sees Bobby come around the corner on his way to class. Luke grins.

“It was really good.” Bobby sees him too, then, his serious expression melting into something warm and just for him. Luke’s heart slams in his chest, no horror movie in sight this time. “Honestly, it was perfect.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please leave me a comment to let me know what you thought, and check out "Don't Wanna Let You Love Somebody Else But Me" if you haven't already!
> 
> Find me on tumblr @lesbiantoziers


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